World affairs

Irish people could tell a thing or two about large families, but we defy anyone to match up to a man in Tennessee who has fathered 30 kids at the ripe old age of 33.

Desmond Hatchett of Knoxville has fallen foul of the courts system in America for his inability to stump up child support for his many, many children, 33 of them in fact, who he has fathered with 11 different women over the last 14 years.

Hatchett, obviously in possession of the most potent sperm on the planet, can’t act as much of a provider to his children as he only earns the minimum wage, half of which is taken by the state and divided amongst his offspring.

When there’s 30 of them, however, it’s plain to see there ain’t much to go around. According to a report on Yahoo News in fact, one of the mothers of Hatchett’s children receives as little as $1.49 a month.

Hatchett has appealed to the courts for help, but it’s not as if this is the first time that he’s found himself unable to pay the child support. In 2009, when he had 21 children, he appeared in court over his inability to come up with the cash but promised not to put any more buns in the oven. Then he went and had nine more kids in three years.

How Hatchett managed to help produce the sheer number of children in that timeframe is beyond us, but it perhaps becomes a little easier to understand when you realise that old Dessie has had four kids in the same year on two separate occasions.

Although, Hatchett will have to endeavour to come up with a better way of supporting his children, there’s not much the state can do as it is not exactly illegal to make babies.

Besides, given his track record, Hatchett seems unlikely to stop at this stage, the old dog.